Take advantage of bale-wrapping technology to get the most from your forage.

It's only April, but for some haymakers, first alfalfa cutting is just a month or so away. What are the chances you'll get that early hay cured and baled before it gets rained on?

Here in the country's midsection in May, the odds of having 3 rainless days in a row are not very good, notes Pat Guinan, University of Missouri climatologist. "For example, at Clinton, Mo., the second week in May has only a 5.5 percent chance of receiving no rain or only a trace amount," he said.

Which leaves nearly a 95 percent chance that some will fall during the week. For each of the 6 weeks from late April through early June, Guinan lists the probability of no rain for the week at Clinton, Mo., and Springfield, Mo.

That's a big reason you're seeing more baleage, those big white "marshmallows" of hay baled wet and wrapped in plastic, especially on dairy farms. Dry hay must be cured to below 20 percent moisture, whereas baleage can be (and should be) harvested at 50 to 60 percent moisture, then stored in individual plastic bags or wrapped with flat plastic sheeting.

"With Iowa's high humidity and heavy dews, hay often needs 3 days or more to dry," said Ralph Mayer, farm management specialist, Iowa State University. "The longer forage lays in the field [between mowing and baling] the greater the risk of rain. Baleage only has to wilt a day or less prior to baling, which greatly reduces the risk of rain damage."

Shorter drying time and less handling cuts harvest losses with baleage. Whether legume, grass or mixed, hay suffers the greatest field shattering loss when it is dry and must be mechanically handled, said Mayer. "The amount of loss is directly related to the dry matter content of the forage when it is handled," he noted. "Dry matter losses when hay is baled with a big round baler can range from 30 to 35 percent. By comparison, field losses of forage harvested at above 40 percent moisture are in the 15 to 20 percent range."

In other words, with baleage, you can preserve 25 to 30 percent more dry matter per acre, compared with dry hay. Figuring hay worth a conservative $60 per ton and a 4-ton yield, a baleage system can add over $60 per acre in feed value.

Keeping baleage quality in means keeping air out. The high-moisture forage can spoil quickly if the air-tight integrity of the bag or plastic wrap is lost. For that reason, big-bale haylage should be handled as little as possible after wrapping or bagging; wet-wrapped bales cannot be easily moved without damaging the wrapper. In some areas, field mice or voles may gnaw through the plastic.

For the most part, baleage requires a relatively low equipment investment, especially when compared with a conventional silage system. Most existing big round balers will do the job, and there's no requirement for storage facilities.

However, cost is affected by the type of wrapping material used. Individual plastic bags cost $7 to $10 each, and bags typically are used only once. A special machine is needed for wrapping bales in sheet plastic, at a cost of $12,000 to more than $20,000, depending on how sophisticated the equipment. Plastic sheeting comes on a huge roll, at a cost of $2 to $4 per bale.

And with baleage, timing is as critical as with hay-making. Harvesting forage at the peak of quality is a challenge, whether you roll hay up wet or dry.